White House Issues Executive Order on School Vouchers
“To support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children,” the White House issued an executive order on January 29th to expand the use of school choice. Referencing recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results that 70% of eighth graders are below proficiency in reading and 72% are below in math, the Trump Administration is taking steps to increase the use of vouchers across the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and other federal departments. Measures in the executive order include developing guidance to support State-based K-12 educational choice; placing school choice as a priority for discretionary grants; expanding choice for low-income, working families through Health and Human Services block grants to States for families and children; establishing vouchers for military families; allowing vouchers for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIE) families to use their federal funding for school choice. CEC has a longstanding position in opposition to vouchers and voucher-like programs because of their negative impact on children with disabilities.